| English Dictionary |
RESOLUTE
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Dictionary entry overview: What does resolute mean?
• RESOLUTE (adjective)
The adjective RESOLUTE has 2 senses:
1. firm in purpose or belief; characterized by firmness and determination
2. characterized by quickness and firmness
Familiarity information: RESOLUTE used as an adjective is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Firm in purpose or belief; characterized by firmness and determination
Context example:
a resolute and unshakeable faith
Similar:
bent; bent on; dead set; out to (fixed in your purpose)
determined (characterized by great determination)
desperate; do-or-die (desperately determined)
firm; steadfast; steady; stiff; unbendable; unfaltering; unshakable; unwavering (marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable)
foursquare (characterized by firm and unwavering conviction)
hell-bent (recklessly determined)
resolved; single-minded (determined)
spartan (resolute in the face of pain or danger or adversity)
undaunted; undismayed; unshaken (unshaken in purpose)
undeterred; undiscouraged (not deterred)
Also:
brave; courageous (possessing or displaying courage; able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching)
decisive (determining or having the power to determine an outcome)
purposeful (serving as or indicating the existence of a purpose or goal)
Antonym:
irresolute (uncertain how to act or proceed)
Derivation:
resoluteness (the trait of being resolute)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Characterized by quickness and firmness
Synonyms:
resolute; unhesitating
Context example:
his reply was unhesitating
Similar:
decisive (characterized by decision and firmness)
Derivation:
resoluteness (the trait of being resolute)
Context examples
What I had to do, was, to turn the painful discipline of my younger days to account, by going to work with a resolute and steady heart.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
One was my Jonathan's, raised in a high key of passion; the other Mr. Morris' strong resolute tone of quiet command.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
But I am not angry, Jane: I only love you too well; and you had steeled your little pale face with such a resolute, frozen look, I could not endure it.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
"Oh God! that I had not given way to her at the fatal moment! Had I done as I ought! But so eager and so resolute! Dear, sweet Louisa!"
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most resolute of men.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A glance at Aylward's resolute face, and at the huge shoulders of Hordle John, had convinced the archers that there was little to be got by violence.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"I shall marry whom I please, Aunt March, and you can leave your money to anyone you like," she said, nodding her head with a resolute air.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
When he arrives he will be met by the obtuse but resolute Lestrade, and I have no doubt that we shall have all our details filled in.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Her resolute effort threw back the lid, and gave to her astonished eyes the view of a white cotton counterpane, properly folded, reposing at one end of the chest in undisputed possession!
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
She received the news with resolute composure; made no observation on it, and at first shed no tears; but after a short time they would burst out, and for the rest of the day, she was in a state hardly less pitiable than when she first learnt to expect the event.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"A handful of love is better than an oven full of bread" (Breton proverb)
"Be generous to a generous person and you'd win him, be generous to a mean person and he'd rebel on you." (Arabic proverb)
"Lovers and lords want only to be alone together." (Corsican proverb)